Kelly Slater Just Turned 52 Years Old; Enjoy This Classic Throwback Footage (Video)
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Longevity, in competitive sports, is a rare thing.
As athletes, the body ages, performance wanes, the drive to win deteriorates. Not to mention injuries. In more high impact sports, like football, the average career is 3.3 years. Surfing is not like the NFL; yet Kelly Slater’s longevity is laudable.
And so, in honor of Slater turning 52 years old (on February 11th) and still competing against surfers half his age at the highest level, here’s a lookback through the ages.
The clip, curated by Surf Radio, compiles footage from a number of different films featuring Slater, including Endless Summer II, Quiksilver’s The Crossing, Taylor Steele’s Hit & Run, and more. Friends and fellow competitors speak about Slater’s freakish surfing ability in addition to his longevity; here’s a few to chew on:
“He was out to break records.” – Taylor Knox
“It’s hard to explain. You couldn’t dream up a better surfer. There wasn’t anybody else out there in our generation that was as good or better than Kelly. Everybody knew they weren’t even close.” – Keith Malloy
“He has the drive to be the best in the world. All day. Every day. In everything he does.” – Chris Malloy
“Kelly’s the best ever.” – Taylor Steele
“He’s like the Tiger Woods or [Michael] Jordan of surfing.” – Tim Curran
“He’s our Tony Hawk, you know what I mean?” – Bobby Martinez
“Maybe there’s somebody else out there who’s better, but I don’t think so.” – Tom Curren
The youngest and oldest surfer to ever win a world title; the GOAT; the most winning competitor the sport of surfing has ever seen. And he’s still going.
Happy birthday, Slater.
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